It's Day 421.....It's also June 30 2020...and we are in Ashley National Forest ... in... Utah

It's Day 421.....It's also June 30 2020...and we are in Ashley National Forest ... in... Utah

So....Admittedly....Social Distancing on the Western Slope of Colorado....doesn't really get much better than that....considering what others are dealing with out there. And as things continue to dial up....on the Covid 19 front...insert video.....It probably would have made good sense to just stay put.....for a while longer. The worlds seems to still be trying to figure this thing out....and people keep dying. Masks....are a thing now....everybody's gotta wear a mask....they say...testing continues to ramp and become more accessible....and now talk is around our medical facilities becoming overwhelmed .... a shortage of ventilators nation wide and how far out is a vaccine? And thru it all...we are fortunate enough to be watching all the nuttiness...and tragedy even... from afar....Rangely....seemed to handle things in a Rangely sorta way....nobody demanded you wear a mask...and nobody gave you a second look it ya didn't ....Folks are being careful...about protecting their little slice of the Western Slope....treks into Meeker....Vernal....or Grand Junction are done with care....and as of when we left....hadn't heard of a single reported case or fatality in the town.....Soooo....like I said.....woulda made good sense....to stay put a bit longer......but

We couldn't........Rangely had been our hideaway for three months, That place where every sunrise screams adventure..... It was awesome, no doubt, but that itch was back—the kind that makes your feet restless and your mind.....well....it just needs more.....more of the unknown.......I think they call it....Road fever....An inexplicable craving for change, a deep need to see that horizon....through a windshield.....and not knowing....whats beyond it.

And we'd figured out where we were headed next.

There's a super cool place up there.....where the Northwest corner of Colorado....meets the Northeast corner of Utah.... And Wyoming drops in here and there......A place where the air tastes like....freedom, where the landscape transforms with with every passing mile.... It's where the sky seems bigger, and the silence...well....that's an experience of its own. And the thought of having all that wildnerness all to ourselves....well thats just the definition of awesome.....

It's an area that we've actually driven by...a couple times now.....but never jumped in with both feet......I remembered our first drive through the area last spring....we had come down through the Flaming Gorge recreation area and spent the night in Vernal..... I studied the map that night in Vernal.....I'd realized everything we had just passed by....and I promised myself we'd come back.

So we did. We'd head back to Vernal.....and the toughest part at that point....picking a direction...from there....and ultimately.....choosing to head just 20 miles north....and into ... The Ashley National Forest.

The climb in elevation helps to transition from the intense heat of Vernal’s high desert climate...were barely out of June and the temps are already messing with 100 degree's! But moving north....and up....took us pretty quickly into a greener, cooler universe offering us the perfect spot to hang out for a couple days.....I mean....with over 1.4 million acres of National Forest at our disposal....I'd say were doing our part....when it comes to social distancing.

And I hadn't even realized that as we drove through the Flaming Gorge recreation area last spring....that were were in Ashley National Forest. This forest spans across both Utah and Wyoming.....and includes the gorge.

The forest also includes an area referred to as the High Uinta's Wilderness area.....one of the largest wilderness area's in the country. It's also home to the highest Mountain Range in Utah...The Uinta range...which includes Kings Peak... at over 13 thousand 500 feet tall! Sitting here in the foothills of all that wilderness.....I read that the area is widely known for it's backcountry hiking opportunities...and while that did sound pretty amazing....I don't think any of the three of us are up for the challenges associated with backcountry hiking...seclusion is pretty awesome most of the time....but for us.....for right now anyways....we prefer our seclusion...include cell coverage....a bed....and a refrigerator....so we drove just far enough in....and found our spot.....we did need to pop that cell signal booster up....not exactly gonna do any movie streaming while we're here....but we can do a bit of web surfin....and stay caught up on emails.

An we'll have to stay on on toes during those long walks to.....the internet tells us the list is long....when it comes to critters that call this place home full time....

Moose....Black bears....mountain lions....deer....elk.....racoons....beavers.....mountain goats.....bighorn sheep.....even porcupines, rattle snakes and pika! Never heard of a pika? Internet tells me it some sort of rabbit like mountain dweller......looks like a rabbit without the ears to me......and of course...all these guys hang out here.....the area is known for having incredibly diverse ecosystems.....one of the more distinct characteristics of this National Forest....is that Unita Mountain range runs East/West....unlike most mountain ranges in the US...that run North/South.....providing most any ecosystem you can imagine....High Desert...one of the larges Alpine Forests in the US..... that transition to fir and spruce forests.....before transition back into the arid...more desert like conditions of the Uinta Valley below us. And peppered of course....with those incredible Red Canyons and striking rock formations like we had seen over in the Flaming Gorge......throw in more rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, marshlands, meadows and prairie than you can imagine...and you pretty much have Ashley National Forest.

You also have....a ton of history...I think I remember reading the first time we came through here....that even the Spanish explorers didn't make it to this part of Utah....until 1776.....which means that while the US was in the middle of a revolutiony war with Britain....over on the east coast.....this part of Utah was being discovered...and documented...for the first time.

Well...not exactly the first time....Ancient Petroglyphs can be found throughout the forest....providing a glimpse into the areas prehistoric past....and proving the presense of Native Americans here for centuries.

After those spanish explorers....it would really be all about the Fir Trappers....and trading with native americans....for nearly 100 years.....until the area got mixed up in that whole US expansion thing. Around here....it would be the treaty that ended the Mexican American War that would land Utah in the hands of the United States. The first town settled in the region would be Vernal....and the Ashley National Forest would be established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt......

And it's pretty awesome that you can still walk amongst Historic Cabins, Salt Houses, and other structures that allow the imagination to run wild.....as you take in what life was like....here in The High Uintas Wilderness in a time when only native americans, trappers, and settlers walked these lands.

If you pay close attention while walking the forests....you can still find Spanish Tree Markings......markings left by Spanish explorers to indicate their routes and to claim territories along their travels.

You will also find remnants of the tools and equipment used by early loggers and dam builders ....

Some pretty cool stuff

One more click this evening....well that meant reading about Tie Hack Tools ..... and salt houses!

Turns out....tie hacks, were skilled laborers responsible for cutting timber into railroad ties during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.....And These Tie Hacks....well...here....I found this from the folks at Wyoming PBS.....insert video.... so cool....to learn about a profession I never even knew existed....but played a critical role in the growth of a young country.

I'd learn that the Tie Hacking industry would be the only source of railway ties until around 1920....when diesel powered portable sawmill stations begain showing up on sight in the industry....but by 1920...over 254 thousand miles of railway had been laid in the US.....

And again....asking the internet to do the math....if railway ties were set....20 inches apart along each of these 254 thousand miles....that meant that over 80 million railway ties had been created....by hand.

Sheeeeesh....and if I considered what the folks over at Wyoming PBS had just told me...that the average Tie Hacker would cut 25 to 30 ties in a day.....how many Tie Hackers....and how many man hours went into the production of some 80 million railway ties? It's nearly mind numbing....the sweat that went into this country....and thats just the railway system....

I had to ask....how many tree's did that cost? 80 million railroad ties...average of 3 to 4 ties per tree....means over 22 million tree's had to be cut down....by hand.....

The scraps from those tree's probably warmed homes all over this place in woodstoves....while other pieces found their way to everything from the handles of tools and garden implements....and maybe even a chair or two....and while we were building a structure or two here and there....we hadn't even heard the term subdivision yet....

I had to ask the internet....how many tree's have we cut down since the turn of the century in the United States....

Well...even the internet can't answer that one. Safe to say....a lot. I did read that between 2010....and 2020...the United States lost over 2.5 million acres in natural forest land. And while a large portion of the deforestation during that 10 year period was due to logging and timber industry activity...there were other factors....clearing for developement and urban growth......pest infestations.....and yea...wildfires.

And going back 120 years....we're down some 139 million acres of natural forest in the country. And there is quite a bit working against the 611 million acres of natural forests we have left.

Makes a guy curious....with population booming......urban sprawl running rampent...and forest fires breaking records....what does the next 120 years hold....for our natural forests? One very cool thing I read....of the 611 million or so natural forests left in the country....over 550 million acres are protected....National Forests....Wilderness areas....State Parks......at least we can't get to those with a chainsaw......But pest infestations.....and wildfires....another story I guess....

Man...and I hadn't even gotten to Salt Houses!

But with the sun gettin ready to set on our first night here........we'll get to all that....and more later. We don't do walks after dark out here....ya know...mountain lions....rattle snakes and bears.....we'll save the hiking....exploring.....and outdoor wondering....for the daylight hours.

Just wrapped up dinner and popped my favorite movie into the DVD player......A Time To Kill.....Some of John Grishams best work if ya ask me.

We'll call it a night.....see what tomorrow brings.....think about when we might head out of this Ashley National Forest....where we'll go....

And I wonder what we'll learn there